"102 Minutes That Changed America"

[Randy]

I saw this on the History Channel the other night. While I saw the events that happened in New York City on 9/11 unfold in realtime (as did most of the world) and saw several documentaries about it... this was something different.

102 Minutes That Changed America is a 102-minute American television special documentary film that was produced by History and premiered commercial-free on September 11, 2008, marking the seventh anniversary of the attacks. The film depicts in virtually real time the New York-based events of the September 11 attacks primarily using raw video footage from mostly amateur citizen journalists. The documentary is accompanied by an 18-minute documentary short called I-Witness to 9/11, which features interviews with nine firsthand eyewitnesses who captured the video footage on camera.

Comprised almost completely of amateur raw footage, it's 'more-or-less' a realtime dialogue about what happened. The video is really engrossing and hard to watch at time... especially some of the clips filmed at the base of the towers before the collapse, knowing that most of the people you see died moments later.

Specifically, there's a part where you see the bewildered faces of an entire group of firemen as they make their way toward the building; none of which made it out alive. Something else that got me were the CB radio conversations between the emergency personnel on the ground, to rescue workers inside... unable to evacuate, but tending to the injured and still trying to find a way out.

After the one of the building collapses (not sure which?), you get a get these really haunting shots as people starting approaching the wreckage... the air really thick with dust as you start to make out the debris and abandoned emergency vehicles with their lights still flashing... but not a single moving thing in sight and an eerie silence over the whole landscape.

There's a lot of stuff like that, but also a lot of uplifting moments, where you see people helping one another and being really courageous. You also see a lot of people's immediate reactions to things as they happen, with all the anger and hatred that accompanied it.

This special gave me a lot better context for what went on, and a real retrospective of what it was like going through all of that firsthand. No matter what your position on what followed the events that day, I really recommend you watch this.

[googlevid]2947888180526230130[/googlevid]

102 Minutes That Changed America (2/2)

102 Minutes That Changed America - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

9/11 Attacks on America - 102 Minutes that Changed America - History.com

 

[Metal Ken]

Another crazy one is a documentary made by some french guys who came to new york to document a rookie firefighter going through firecollege and getting his first job. The guys first month on the job, 9/11 happens, and they get the entire fire station's response and everything. It was insane.

 

[Metal Ken]

9/11 (2002) (TV)

This one.

 

[Winspear]

13:30, holy shit..havn't bawled that hard in a good while.
Over 8 years and I still can't quite believe it.

 

[Rachmaninoff]

Another crazy one is a documentary made by some french guys who came to new york to document a rookie firefighter going through firecollege and getting his first job. The guys first month on the job, 9/11 happens, and they get the entire fire station's response and everything. It was insane.

Holy shit, that's someting worth viewing!

 

[Janiator]

It moves me everytime I see this. I really really hope they find the Motherfuckers behind this. Tis why I don't like religion.

 

[sami]

I caught the last half of this when they showed it this year. Thanks for posting. I've been really wanting to watch the first half.

 

[Nightside]

lol the best quote. "I think we should go to war like, now."

I guess the terrorists behind this (domestic or foreign whatever you believe) must be proud of themselves.

 

[telecaster90]

It moves me everytime I see this. I really really hope they find the Motherfuckers behind this. Tis why I don't like religion.

Religion had nothing to do with 9/11

 

[hairychris]

Another crazy one is a documentary made by some french guys who came to new york to document a rookie firefighter going through firecollege and getting his first job. The guys first month on the job, 9/11 happens, and they get the entire fire station's response and everything. It was insane.

Yeah, that film's absolutely crazy.

Religion had nothing to do with 9/11

 

[Randy]

Religion had nothing to do with 9/11

Not quite sure what he's referring to, and I wouldn't necessarily say "nothing to do with 9/11" but I've always been of the opinion that the decision to attack was just as financially/politically motivated on the part of whoever did it (the assumption is Osama Bin Laden or Al-Qaeda) as the war that was waged afterward. Leveraging faith or pride (especially when appealing to the poor) is something that the "powers that be" have been doing forever, from televangelists and cult leaders to politicians and talking heads.

Anyway, we're getting a little off topic. The purpose of the thread was mostly in the scope of that specific special or even things related. I'd gladly carry on the rest of this conversation in the http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/po...iracy-theorists-for-not-going-far-enough.html thread.

 

[Scar Symmetry]

Saw it, moving to say the least.

 

[Metal Ken]

Yeah, that film's absolutely crazy.

Its one of the few 9/11 related pieces of media that got a big emotional response out of me. Its probably the most genuine 9/11 thing i've seen personally. seeing what they went through there at ground zero, and how well they put up with everything going on. I don't know if i could have done that. Those guys all deserved the "Balls of Steel" award.

 

[Tiger]

Really easy for something like that to get me teary eyed.

 

[playstopause]

Little bump. Just took the time to watch this and it is very moving indeed. It often feels like you're right in the middle of it... And to hear these people reactions as it is all happening... It's quite something.

 

[Rick]

I'm gonna have to watch these.

 

[Pauly]

It moves me everytime I see this. I really really hope they find the Motherfuckers behind this. Tis why I don't like religion.

They've had one of the big fish for quite a while.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I hope to visit NY in a few years time when the new WTC complex is finished so I can stand there under the shadow of WTC 1, by the two enormous memorials and reflect on what was. I haven't watched the first film yet, but I hope it doesn't contain what was one of the most haunting things I have ever heard; a person who was on the phone as the 2nd tower collapsed, it's not something I want to hear again.

 

[Randy]

I haven't watched the first film yet, but I hope it doesn't contain what was one of the most haunting things I have ever heard; a person who was on the phone as the 2nd tower collapsed, it's not something I want to hear again.

I don't believe that particular clip is in the movie. What I liked about this specific film was that they didn't try to make it gratuitous like a lot of the other documentaries you'll see about the subject (those which zoom in on people falling out of windows, cycle the planes hitting in a loop, or show the towers collapsing over and over again). Most of the time, you'll see things that imply what happened, ie. you see the actual building start coming down from one person's perspective and the next shot is from somebody after it's already happened or you'll hear somebody radioing in from the upper floors a while before the collapse, and in another bit, you see a guy walking through the lobby of building 7 and talking to a guy who's insisting on staying and looking around upstairs more to see if anybody's injured. They stop short of actually showing people dying or playing clips of people as the building comes down, to help keep it tasteful but still haunting.

Another big difference is the lack of a voice over or accompanying backstory or news clips. You really feel like a guy down on the street during the whole thing, and you get a sense of the confusion as it's going on. There were moments where I genuinely had no clue what the hell was going on and you get that sinking feeling like the world is crumbling around you and you have no idea what's going to happen next. That same lack of resolution.